Sun Oil executive who valued civic involvement

Robert P. Hauptfuhrer, 81, a Sun Oil executive whose entrepreneurial family came to the United States from Germany in the 1860s, died Sunday, Aug. 11, at Bryn Mawr Hospital from complications of a brain hemorrhage.

His mother's father, Albert Schoenhut, immigrated from Wurttemberg in 1866 at age 17. He started making toy pianos out of a storefront on Frankford Avenue in 1872. The business later became the Schoenhut Toy & Piano Co., employing 400 workers.

Mr. Hauptfuhrer's other grandfather, Henry, immigrated from Wollmar to Philadelphia in 1882 and founded Hauptfuhrer Dairies, which eventually became part of National Dairies.

Mr. Hauptfuhrer's father, George, started out going door to door in Philadelphia, ladling milk for customers out of big cans in carts. The business grew, and the carts were replaced with horse-drawn wagons, then trucks. His father remained in the milk industry for 50 years.

Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Hauptfuhrer graduated from the William Penn Charter School as valedictorian in 1949. He attended Princeton University in the Naval ROTC program, and earned a bachelor's degree in public affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School in 1953.

He graduated from Naval Officer Candidate School in Bayonne, N.J., and was commissioned as a supply officer aboard the USS Henrico, an attack transport in the Pacific Theater during World War II. After two years, he was honorably discharged.

In 1957, Mr. Hauptfuhrer graduated with distinction from Harvard Business School. In 1963, he married Barbara Ellen Dunlop. The couple lived in Gladwyne and later moved to Wayne.

Mr. Hauptfuhrer joined Sun Oil Co. in 1957. He held various management positions before becoming president, chief operating officer, and director in January 1987.

In November 1988, Sun split into two companies, and Mr. Hauptfuhrer became first chairman and chief executive officer of Sun Exploration & Production Co. The firm in Dallas was renamed Oryx Energy Co. He retired in 1994.

Mr. Hauptfuhrer held various positions in industry trade groups and sat on the boards of Quaker Chemical Corp., Additech Inc., and Puralube Inc.

A man who valued civic involvement, Mr. Hauptfuhrer was a trustee of Lankenau Hospital and the Curtis Institute of Music, and a board member of the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation.

He was chair of the Baldwin School board, a trustee of the First Presbyterian Church of Ardmore, and chair of the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center's board of advisers. For several years, he and his wife led the Individual Gifts Committee of the Southeastern Pennsylvania United Way.

He served as a governor of the Princeton Club of Philadelphia, president of his class at Princeton, and was a university trustee. He also led the Harvard Business School Club of Philadelphia.

He was a member of the Merion Cricket Club, Philadelphia Country Club, and the Union League of Philadelphia.

He enjoyed trips with family, often to ski in the United States and abroad. He played football and basketball in high school and college, as well as squash, paddle tennis, and golf in later years.

The couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in May, and in June they attended his 60th reunion at Princeton.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Hauptfuhrer is survived by sons Bruce and Bryan; daughter Brenda Helber; and four grandchildren.

A celebration of life will be held at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, 625 Montgomery Ave., Bryn Mawr, at at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 7. Burial was private.

Donations may go to the Robert Hauptfuhrer '53 Memorial Fund, Princeton University, Attn: Helen Hardy, Box 5357, Princeton, N.J. 08540.